So Long and Goodnight
by Farbeyondthegrave
Summary: Separated from her group by a grounder ambush, the girl has no choice but to flee deeper into the forest. As she lay flat in the mud, she cannot tear her eyes from the horrifying scene playing out before her... -I was so inspired by this wonderful whump fest of a show I literally could not keep this story in. Hope you enjoy!


The earth was wet where she lay flat against it, the rocks and twigs pushed into her skin uncomfortably, and she sunk slightly into the black mud that seemed to coat her whole body. Her exposed arms and face felt the chill of the night and a faint mist of the forest. She did not move. She was low to the ground, hidden, and focused intently on a scene unfolding through the trees before her. A fire was blazing in a small clearing, tending to it were two grounders; the flames glinting off their skull masks. They were talking to each other in their harsh language, clearly agitated. They stopped feeding the flames when three more grounders entered the clearing. One of the newcomers dragged behind him two captives who the mud-covered girl recognized as Jessa and Ezra, a girl and a boy from her camp, two of the 100 delinquents sent to Earth by Jaha and his counsel. The captive pair had ropes around their hands, Jessa had a bloody nose and was limping, clearly having put up a fight against the grounders and lost.

'_Bellamy should have had a better plan,' _the hidden girl thought as she stared at the terrified faces of her comrades.

The camp had been running low on food for a few days before Bellamy had put together a hunting party. A group of eight had been chosen and given spears to hunt and guns to defend against grounders. But they were still unprepared for the ambush. Arrows impaled two of the eight, dead before they hit the ground, and the rest scattered, running for their lives from seemingly invisible foes and shooting into the wind. The girl had dropped her spear to better aim with the gun but ran out of bullets very quickly, she was separated from her group, alone in the immense forest, darting from tree to tree. She ran far enough away that she evaded the grounders, but pretty quickly realized she was hopelessly lost. She had sat down under a crooked tree as dusk approached, hidden by the green brush of the forest. As the moon rose higher in the sky, she contemplated climbing the tree, which would offer more security. But before she could decide to climb up or not she had heard rustling in the trees across the small clearing before her, which prompted her to lay flat against the ground in silence. It was in position she stayed as she witnessed the horrific scene playing out in front of her.

She watched in horror as both Jessa and Ezra were stripped of their shirts and beaten mercilessly with whips. Their screams pierced through the foggy night. When it seemed they could not possibly take it anymore the grounders stopped. The hidden girl hoped this would be the end, that the grounders would take mercy and end their suffering, but that was clearly not the grounders' intention. They conversed amongst each other for a few minutes before finally one of the skull-faced grounders silently took a burning log from the fire and walked slowly to the bloody, crying captives. He stood still for a moment before his thundering voice rang out, "The Sky people will pay." With that utterance he signaled to two grounders at his side that immediately crouched down in front of the captives.

The silent girl could not see what was happening but the screams of panic and pain gave her an idea. When the grounders finally stood, she could see Jessa and Ezra, both their tongues had been cut out, blood flowed freely from their mouths as they choked on it. The grounder who had spoken still held the burning log. He approached the shaking, bloody pair and as they still struggled away, Jessa tried to speak but only managed a terrible choking sound as blood from spilled down her mouth.

The massive man had taken off his mask to reveal a tattooed and scarred face underneath that was just as terrifying. He held the burning log to the top the post. The flames spread immediately. The hidden girl did not want to see the rest, she did not want to see Jessa and Ezra pull at their restraints unable to put distance between themselves and the flames, she did not want to hear their screams of agony or smell their flesh as it burned off their bones, but she could not turn away.

When it was done the grounders put out the fire and swiftly moved out through the trees into the night, leaving the charred remains behind. The girl was shaking now, tears trailed down her face but she still made no sound, terrified that the grounders would hear her and come back.

The darkness slowly ebbed away as the sun began to peek through the trees. The girl had not moved for hours. As the sun rose higher in the sky she slowly rose from her spot on the ground. She was sore from remaining in the same position for so long, the rocks she had been pressing against left bruises on her skin. Her mind felt strangely blank, she thought she should try to find her way back to her camp but as she looked around her it became clear that she had no idea what direction she should go in. Running from the grounder ambush was chaos; she lost all sense of direction as she ran into the immense forest. But even though she had no idea where to go, she could not stand to remain in this spot one second longer. She walked away from the horror she had witnessed in a daze. She could still smell the pungent odor of burned skin as she began to run, putting as much distance from it as she could.

She ran for hours, never coming across another human. She knew she was not going the right way but she did not care, she just wanted to get away from the smell, it was following her. Suddenly her foot caught on a root sticking out from the ground and she face planted in the dirt. She hissed in pain, she felt a stabbing pain in her ankle and her head had taken quite a hit. She turned herself over but could not bring herself to rise from where she had fallen. She was afraid to assess the damage to her ankle. In frustration she began to cry, she put her hand to her head and felt the sun beating down on her exhausted body.

A sharp snapping sound brought her out of her stupor. She sat up looking toward the source of the sound. She could see someone in the distance through the leaves walking towards her. The grounders. In a complete panic now she managed to scramble to her feet, the pain in her ankle seemed to triple but she still ran as best as she could. This pain was nothing compared to what the grounders would do to her if they caught her.

As she ran she heard the voice of her pursuer yelling at her to stop. She did not slow in her panicked run, but was forced to a quick halt as she realized she had run to the edge of a steep ravine. She turned from the ravine, there was nowhere else to go, and the grounder was right behind her. She closed her eyes and prepared herself, as she heard him approach she decided she would fight, she would not be taken willingly.

"Hey,' the grounder said as his footsteps got closer, "it's ok I'm not going to hurt you."

She slowly opened her eyes, not believing the words she had just heard. And what she saw was not a grounder at all, but a boy from her camp, his wide blue eyes focused on her as he inched forward. His hands rose to show he had no weapons. The girl stared at him in relief and disbelief. She let go of the breath she did not know she had been holding.

"Murphy?" she said breathlessly.

"Yes" he said in a calm voice, "I'm not going to hurt you just step away from there, ok?" His eyed darted down to the ravine for a second before he looked back at the girls face.

She nodded, also looking down at the steep drop before taking a step forward toward him. But in an instant the world fell away as the dirt crumbled beneath her, she could not stop herself from tumbling down the rocky edge. She heard Murphy yelling and she screamed as jagged rocks and thorns tore into her skin as she slid down. After what seemed like forever her battered body finally came to a stop. She lay in a bloody heap not quite processing what had just happened; the pain had not yet registered. She faced the sky and could still see Murphy at the edge yelling down to her. The girl was too far gone to understand his words but she still tried to respond, only managing a weak cry. Murphy's face disappeared then as the sweet release of unconsciousness overtook her.

A/N Thank you for getting through my first ever fanfic! The 100 is just as show that really captured my whumpy heart. All reviews are greatly appreciated, please let me know if you think I should continue on with this story! – Cassandra.


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